Riley ate either a Squirrel or baby bunny- What do I do?

[Star and Goldie]

I have never seen anything like this happen but I just looked out my patio door and saw half of an animal hanging out of Riley's mouth. Before I could open the door and yell "DROP IT" she opened her mouth and I saw that the animal, which was either a squirrel or a small bunny, was already in shreds and Riley was just finishing the second half. 

I didn't know whether to scream or cry or BOTH. Call me crazy, but for some reason that made me feel so sad (more than disgusted, I suppose). I'm trying to tell myself that it was a squirrel, not that any small creature is better than the other but the thought of a little ol' baby bunny... so sad :(

Anyway, aside from my personal feelings of the situation- has anyone had a dog that did/does this? Do I need to do anything with Riley like induce vomiting or anything? She is acting completely fine (in fact seems pretty darn happy right now) She's always barked at squirrels and rabbits but I have NEVER seen her do anything like this and never imagined she would.

Well, she sure is doing all kinds of things to surprise me lately, isn't she? You'd think it be the puppy making me want to pull my hair out. HA!

[Adrianne Matzkin]

We had the same thing happen here. The bunny got caught in the chicken wire in their pen. All 4 were playing tug of war with it. I thought I would totally loose it. All 4 vomited during the day and they were fine. Not to be totally gross but their systems are not used to eating raw. 

[Star and Goldie]

Oh my goodness! That is one visual! I'm glad I didn't witness a tug of war. Riley never threw up and seemed fine. Kind of makes me wonder if this is an every day thing for her and this is just the first one I've seen! Ugh I hope not!

[Lynda Kamrath]

Of course!  It is typical doggie behavior and she probably felt very proud of herself for catching another animal.  Let it be.  My dogs love the chase and they have plenty of opportunities - cats, chickens, lizards, squirrels.  But they also have been known to chase cows and sheep if the opportunity arises.  We have to keep our leashes handy when out with them but chase is just normal for a dog.  You might be concerned if they ingested a sick or poisoned animal, but eating a healthy catch is not a problem (for them).  Relax and have a happy mother's day.

[Katie and Sophie]

Soph hasn't caught anything more than lizards and flies yet, but out Weimaraner Jade catches (and eats if we can't get to her fast enough) birds/squirrel/etc. on a pretty regular basis. Its not something that I like to see at all and I feel terrible for the animal, but I have to recognize that she is a hunting breed and that this is instinct to her. It makes her very proud of herself. Even though our doodles are fluffly teddy bear dogs, they are still dogs and this is instinct to them. Don't beat yourself up over it!

[Lynette Main]

Shea had  bunny today. I saw something from the deck and thought it was a cat. When I got to the shed it was a big bunny . I yelled DROP,and to my  surprize he did it. The bunny ran under the shed.I really praised him for not killing it. Just saving it for another day!!

[Bridget and Lupin]

Ugh.  I am so sorry that happened to you.  When Lupin was about 12 weeks old she ate a frozen mouse that she dug out of a snowbank.  I looked just in time to see the bum and tail hanging out of her mouth.  I almost puked.  Not knowing what else to do I gave her a bath..!  I couldn't very well bleach her mouth which is what I wanted to do!  Anyway...she was fine, the mouse didn't come back up, which was my greatest fear.  Riley will be fine, you will be traumatized.  That's the way of it. :-) Take solace in the fact that (from the perspective of this gardener) there are waaay too many squirrels and bunnies around!